Former hostages and Israeli leaders reacted with shock and outrage Saturday night time to new footage issued by terror teams of emaciated Israeli captives held in Gaza’s tunnels, as politicians accused Hamas of being the true offender behind the starvation disaster within the enclave.
Former hostage Tal Shoham mentioned he had been held with Evyatar David and different captives within the tunnel the place David was seen in a video launched by Hamas, and that off-camera, terrorists had been having fun with air-con, cable tv and “loads of meals” stolen from assist deliveries.
The footage of David, a clip of which his household authorized for publication on Saturday, got here after Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched equally harrowing propaganda footage of hostage Rom Braslavski. The clip of David confirmed him to be skeletal and digging what he mentioned he feared was his grave.
Shoham spoke with Channel 12 as Israel accused Hamas of ravenous each the hostages and Gaza’s civilians, amid mounting worldwide criticism of Israel over the humanitarian disaster within the Strip. In the meantime, some members of the opposition assailed the federal government for failing to safe the hostages’ launch.
‘Shocked to the depths of my soul’
Shoham, who was launched in February as a part of the final ceasefire-hostage take care of Hamas, mentioned he had been held along with hostages David and Man Gilboa-Dalal, in addition to fellow former hostage Omer Wenkert, within the tunnel that could possibly be seen within the Hamas footage.
Shoham mentioned Gilboa-Dalal was possible standing behind a blanket seen within the video that the Hamas captors had put up as a curtain.
“Backstage they’ve put up, which is simply one of many blankets we used, apparently Man Gilboa-Dalal is standing or sitting, as a result of they don’t allow them to go to a unique tunnel,” mentioned Shoham when requested what the video didn’t present.
“And proper behind the cameraman, there’s an iron door, and a well-lit room, with air conditioners and a gaggle of terrorists who sit and sleep there. They’ve cable TV; they’ve loads of meals — meals they’ve stolen from the humanitarian provides that Israel despatched in for a really very long time,” he mentioned. “We might see that they had been effectively fed, that they lacked for nothing. In addition they bragged about having stolen it, that they’d months of provides in that tunnel and all their tunnels.”
Shoham mentioned his captors’ weight appeared to stay secure whilst he misplaced 30 kilograms (66 kilos) in captivity: “We didn’t see them shedding even a kilo.”
Shoham mentioned he was “shocked to the depths of my soul” to see David’s situation within the new footage. “He’s damaged mentally, emotionally. I can’t see now any of the enjoyment of life that he had managed to retain in his eyes,” mentioned Shoham. “Actually, it’s a shell of the Evyatar I knew.”
He mentioned David was doubtlessly digging the ostensible grave within the clip on the orders of his Hamas captors, “however I can see that he believes it. He actually believes that [he and Gilboa-Dalal] will finish their life there.”
Hamas-held hostage Evyatar David filmed digging what he says he fears will probably be his personal grave in a tunnel in Gaza, in a Hamas propaganda video that his household cleared for publication on August 2, 2025 (Video screenshot)
Shoham additionally recalled that Hamas had at one level filmed himself, Wenkert, David and Gilboa-Dalal being fed generously in a propaganda video shot shortly earlier than he and Wenkert had been launched.
One other video later confirmed David and Gilboa-Dalal pleading for launch whereas being pressured to observe the propaganda ceremony the place Shoham and Wenkert had been handed over to the Pink Cross.
Interesting to his former cellmates, Shoham mentioned: “Maintain on… I wish to consider that the federal government will do the best factor very quickly, free you, make a deal.” He additionally expressed hope that Hamas could possibly be pressured “to offer you meals, as a result of there’s meals meters away.”
“Do all the things you’ll be able to to carry on,” mentioned Shoham, “in order that we are able to embrace you each at residence, God-willing, quickly.”
‘That is what hunger seems like’
Writing in a number of languages, together with Hebrew, English, Arabic and French, President Isaac Herzog accused Hamas of ravenous the hostages and the individuals of Gaza by “looting assist and blocking humanitarian deliveries, which Israel has labored with its worldwide companions to extend.
“Now Hamas spreads lies and libels, blaming Israel to take advantage of world compassion,” mentioned Herzog on X. “Hamas rejoices because it succeeds in distracting the world from its personal crimes in opposition to humanity.”
President Isaac Herzog on the funeral of slain hostage Yonatan Samerano in Tel Aviv, June 24, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
“The faces of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski say all of it. Compelled to dig their very own graves. Tormented with execution. Starved, tortured, losing away,” wrote Herzog. “That is pure cruelty. I urge world leaders: Demand the hostages’ launch. Guarantee assist reaches civilians – not terrorists. This can be a take a look at of humanity. Silence is just not an choice.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned he’d spoken at size to the hostages’ households and “expressed to them my deep shock over the horrific footage.” He mentioned he “advised them within the clearest phrases [that] we’re persevering with our efforts to deliver again all of the hostages — persistently, resolutely, and tirelessly.
“Hamas’s cruelty is aware of no bounds. Whereas the State of Israel permits humanitarian assist into Gaza, Hamas terrorists intentionally starve our hostages, documenting them in a cynical, humiliating, and malicious manner. They’re additionally ravenous the residents of Gaza – intentionally. They stop them from receiving assist, then deceive the world and conduct a false propaganda marketing campaign in opposition to Israel. I name on all of the nations of the world – arise in opposition to this Nazi-like abuse. Don’t stand idly by. This can be a ethical take a look at.”
Opposition Chief Yair Lapid and fellow opposition occasion leaders demand world condemnation of Gaza’s terror teams for his or her therapy of the hostages they’ve held for the final 666 days.
Opposition Chief Yair Lapid leads a Yesh Atid faction assembly on the Knesset in Jerusalem, Might 26, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
In an English-language assertion on X, Lapid shared a side-by-side comparability of Evyatar David earlier than he was kidnapped from the Nova music pageant on October 7, 2023, versus his look in a Hamas propaganda video in February of this yr anf dinally within the newest clip.
“That is what hunger seems like,” Lapid declared. “All the world ought to condemn the murderous terrorist group Hamas, which is deliberately ravenous the Israeli hostages,” he wrote. “All the world ought to be a part of the decision for the discharge of all of the hostages. Now.”
Avigdor Liberman, the hawkish chief of Yisrael Beytenu, additionally opted to deal with the state of affairs in English, writing on X that “Hamas is the satan incarnate.”
“Our hostages are being held as human shields in horrific circumstances,” he said. “So long as they’re in Gaza, Hamas is aware of that the IDF’s palms are tied.”
He mentioned Israel should first recuperate the remaining 50 hostages, and solely then “can we win and destroy Hamas.”
Lastly, Nationwide Unity-Blue and White chair Benny Gantz urged to world leaders to rethink their plans to acknowledge a Palestinian state.
“As an alternative of rewarding terror and recognizing an illusionary Palestinian state – how about you first have a look at actuality for what it’s,” he wrote on X, sharing a nonetheless picture from the video of David.
Former IDF chief of employees and ex-Nationwide Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot mentioned, “As chief of employees, I by no means imagined that there would come a day after we would see photos of Jews dying and there can be no savior.”
He mentioned that “Netanyahu and the ‘October 7’ cupboard ministers are accountable for an unforgivable failure, and for the failed administration of the warfare that introduced us so far.”
MK Gadi Eisenkot holds a press convention after saying his resignation from the Knesset and departure from the Nationwide Unity occasion, in Tel Aviv on July 1, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
Eisenkot demanded that ministers make the “Jewish, moral, ethical choice to instantly signal a hostage deal — a complete one, even at the price of a everlasting ceasefire.”
Lapid notes that on the agenda for the upcoming weekly cupboard assembly was “for the seven-thousandth time: a dialogue about threats to the prime minister’s life.”
Absent from the agenda, he mentioned, was any dialogue on the hostages or about negotiations for his or her launch.
“I clearly condemn any risk to the prime minister’s life, however he’s essentially the most safe individual in Israel,” mentioned Lapid. “I recommend changing this matter with a dialogue concerning the way more actual threats to the lifetime of Evyatar David.”
